Tue, 6 May 2003, 08:35 PM Congratulations to The Professor, Tony and The CSK Team!!

By Bob Frey Photo copyright 2003

Bernstein vs Dixon

Following the 7^th race on the 2003 NHRA POWERade tour, a couple of things popped right into my feeble, little mind. First of all, it’s really beginning to look like this is going to be a three car race in the Pro Stock class, and, possibly, a two car race in Top Fuel. Now I know that we have a lot of races to go, but do the math. Brandon Bernstein, who is in second place in TF, is 137 points ahead of the third place driver, Doug Kalitta. The fourth place guy, Doug Herbert, is 201 points behind Brandon, and, of course, you then have to add the 35 point gap that exists between “BB” and the leader, Larry Dixon, and you begin to see the challenge that faces the other drivers. In Pro Stock, Kurt Johnson, Greg Anderson and Warren Johnson have opened up a rather sizeable lead on the pack and it’s going to take a great effort by someone to run them down. Now I know what you’re saying, Jeg Coughlin was way back last year and he caught and passed the leaders to win his second title, and you’d be right except for one thing. Did you know that, at this time last year when he was in eighth place in the points, Jeg Coughlin was closer to the lead than he is right now? That’s right, Jeg was in 8^th place after Atlanta last year but he was only 193 points behind the leader, Warren Johnson. This year, even though he is in 4^th place, he’s 217 points back and trying to catch the three best cars in the class. Good luck to Jeggie and the rest of the PS teams, you’re going to need it…..Speaking of Pro Stock teams, you may see Richie Stevens return to action at the next race in Englishtown, while the Vegas General Construction team should add another driver, “Big Jake,” to the roster by Columbus and the Ford team of Scott Geoffrion, Hurley Blakeney and Bob Panella will add another car before Indy, at least that’s what I hear.

WJ celebrates win.

Warren Johnson’s win was the 90^th of his career and it came in his 140^th final round. Warren qualified 6^th in Atlanta and did you know that this win marked the first time that WJ had ever won when qualified #6? And the only time that WJ ever qualified lower than 6^th at his home track was way back in 1981, the first time that he raced there, when he was 7^th on the qualifying list and then lost an opening round match to Bob Glidden….Warren beat Greg Anderson in the final marking the second time that he had beaten his former crew chief in the money round. Did you know that the only other time that they faced each other for all the marbles was in Greg’s first final round at Indy in 1999? With this win and his victory in Pomona, Warren has now won at least two races a year in 18 different years on the tour and that’s pretty impressive in anyone’s book, don’t you think? The win also moved him to within two points of Greg for the #2 spot in the POWERade points, while his top qualifying spot solidified his hold on the #1 spot in the upcoming “King Demon Crown” that will be held in Englishtown. Mark Whisnant held on to the 8^th and final spot in the “Crown” challenge and he will get the “Professor” in round number one at E’town….With regards to Warren’s great reaction times in Atlanta, he told reporters that he has been practicing with the new lights at the shop. Leave it to WJ to do whatever it takes to win a race…and a championship….Ron Krisher’s streak of qualifying at 76 races in a row came to a halt in Atlanta and so did Craig Treble’s streak of never missing a field. Craig had been around for the driver intros at 58 consecutive races (his entire career) while the last time Ron wasn’t racing on Sunday was at the last race of the year in 1999. And, just to show you how tough it is to make one of these Pro Stock fields, did you know that the longest streak in the class now is now Jeg Coughlin at a mere 20 races? Jeg last failed to make the cut at the first Chicago race last year while every other Pro Stock driver has DNQ’d at least once since then, including Warren. When you look at qualifying that way, it makes Warren’s streak of 303 in a row look even more impressive, doesn’t it? And let’s not forget Mr. Force who raised his amazing qualifying streak to 307 this past week.

Tony celebrates win.

Tony Pedregon, who has the second longest qualifying streak in the Funny Car class, added to his points lead this weekend with a win over Johnny Gray. Did you know that Tony won his very first race in Atlanta back in 1996? And did you know that Tony has now won four races this year and that three of those wins have come at the expense of the Checker, Schuck’s and Kragen team cars of Gray and Del Worsham?  Two of his wins have come over Johnny Gray (Pomona & Atlanta), while a third one came when he beat Del Worsham in Houston. With his win, and Whit Bazemore’s third round loss to Tony, Mr. Pedregon added 41 points to his lead and now has a 108 point edge over Whit. John Force, who went deeper into eliminations than he has all year, now sits in 8th place and is a full 317 points (or 16 rounds) behind his team mate. As good as John is, even he won’t catch Tony this year and you can write that down and take it to the bank!!! I’m not, however, ready to concede the championship to Tony because I firmly believe that Whit and Del both have the resources and the talent to catch him. It won’t be easy and they can’t afford any early round exits or DNQ’s, but it can be done. Speaking of early exits, did you know that Whit and Tony are the only two FC drivers who haven’t suffered a round one loss yet this year? For his part, despite the fact that he is now winless in more than a year, Whit did advance to the semi-finals for the sixth time in seven races this year and that’s’ pretty good. Now, if he could just learn to win the big one!...As strong as the “Team Force” cars have been this year, the CSK guys don’t appear to be awed by them in any way. After seven races this year, did you know that Johnny Gray & Del Worsham are exactly even with John’s cars at five up and five down in the won-loss column and that’s why I think the FC title chase will be the best in the top three pro classes this year… Johnny Gray had a chance at a very rare trifecta in Atlanta, when he beat Gary Densham and John Force before losing to the third member of the “Force Team” in the final round…From what I hear, the other car that will run out of the Worsham camp this year, the one that will be driven by Arnie Karp, is at Indianapolis Raceway Park this week in an effort to complete this licensing process with an eye towards a Chicago debut.

Geno Scali

The Pro Stock Bike class saw a few stunning surprises, including Treble’s DNQ. Angelle Savoie, the point’s leader coming in, fouled out in her opening round match with Matthew Smith, a red light that cost her the point’s lead. Did you know that this was only the third red light of her career, and the first time she ever fouled out in round one? The eight red lights in the bike class in Atlanta really do point to the need for some kind of a change in the system for the motorcycles, don’t they? Or is it just me who sees it that way?...Geno Scali, the new point’s leader, should get a real test at the next race in New Jersey, especially from a hungry Angelle and Treble. By the way, you may see both Angelle and Antron Brown wearing new colors as early as the Englishtown race. I can say no more but remember that you heard it here first….Scali, who took over the point’s lead for the first time in his career, was celebrating the birthday of his partner, Joe Koenig (May 1), this weekend and he won with times of 7.16, 7.17, 718 & 7.19… And have you noticed how some of the bike riders are looking a little more slim and trim lately? Shawn Gann has dropped about 12 pounds in an effort to make his rider / motorcycle combination more efficient, while Antron and Angelle continue to work out on a regular basis. By the way, did you know that if Antron weren’t riding a motorcycle that he might be in contention for an Olympic berth? “AB” is a world-class sprinter and isn’t too bad on the soccer field either, from what I hear…..Scali won when all four of his opponents fouled out, and did you know that Antron also won a race when all four of his opponents bulbed? It happen in Dallas in 1999 when he beat Angelle in the final round, after Matt Hines, Steve Johnson and Joe DeSantis all got the big red eye.

The sportsman winners.

Congratulations to Frank Manzo, who won for the 52^nd time overall and for the 9^th time in Atlanta, as well as Marty Thacker who got his richly deserved first win in the Top Alcohol Dragster class…David Rampy, possibly the greatest Competition Eliminator driver of all time, stopped one of his main challengers for the Comp title when he beat Charlie Wescott in the final round, while A. Lincoln Morehead won the Summit race for the second straight year, and, for the second straight year he beat another great racer, Dan Fletcher….Tom Rhoda, who hadn’t won a race since he won in Atlanta in 1993, earned his win at the 7^th race of the year, which I find interesting for a guy who’s car number is 7777….Corky Markwart looks like the guy to beat in Super Gas after his Atlanta win while a big tip of the cap goes out to Quentin Holloway who beat the defending event champ, Tom DePascale, for his first national event win ever. Believe me, you’ve never experienced the thrill of victory until you’ve spent some time with Quentin, who has a logo on his shirt that says, “The Booger Man Is Gonna Get You.” Yes he is and he got his well deserved win in Atlanta. Way to go, Booger!!